The Rays have selected the contract of left-hander Jose Lopez, per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, right-hander Luis Patino was optioned to Triple-A while lefty Josh Fleming was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Lopez, 24, was selected by the Padres in the Rule 5 draft this past offseason, but was returned to the Rays ahead of Opening Day after the lefty did not make San Diego’s Opening Day roster out of camp. Lopez was selected thanks to a successful 2022 campaign that saw him post a 2.43 ERA in 59 1/3 innings of work that primarily came at the Double-A level.
Unfortunately, he’s failed to replicate last season’s strong results at the Triple-A level this season, with a 5.19 ERA in 26 innings. Still, with a solid 23.1% strikeout rate weighed down by a hefty 11.1% walk rate during his time in Triple-A this season, Lopez is poised to make his big league debut as a member of the Rays bullpen, where he’ll be joined by fellow lefties Jake Diekman, Jalen Beeks, and Colin Poche.
Lopez’s addition to the roster comes at the expense of Patino, the former top prospect who joined the Rays as part of the Blake Snell trade during the 2020-21 offseason. Though Patino’s spent just two innings in the big leagues this season, he’s posted a worrisome 8.18 ERA in 22 innings of work in the majors since the start of the 2022 campaign, to go with a 7.64 ERA at the Triple-A level this season. Patino will look to figure things out back at the Triple-A level going forward.
As for Fleming, the move comes as little surprise as the left-hander was already expected to miss several weeks with discomfort in his elbow. Prior to his injury, the 27-year-old left-hander posted a 4.62 ERA in 28 2/3 innings of work.
The link takes us to an infielder, not a lefthanded pitcher.
I think this is him:
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lop…
Just an earnest “thanks” for all your informative and factual posts, Brick. Champ Kind has got nothing on you!
In all seriousness, thanks again for your postings Hemlock.
Gwynning,
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Thanks, but he fixed it.
There’s only one Jose Lopez I know before today!
baseball-reference.com/players/l/lopezjo01.shtml
He and Yuni were fun to watch, even if the team was mediocre at best.
Patino has some stuff, I just wish he could put it all together. Heck, even last night he looked good…between the two homers. Still young, with a lot of upside. I hope he can turn the potential into reality.
I hated losing him in the Snell swap, his numbers don’t make me miss him, I will always root for his success and despite the non-success (to date) I’d always be inclined to invite him back to San Diego! Seems like conflicting feelings, but bottomline… we root for Patiño to put it all together! He does have some nasty stuff and for the life of me I can’t figure out why he hasn’t exhibited his best at The Bigs yet. Cheers SideWine
I don’t have any stats to back this up and I absolutely love how the rays build and run their team however they have to be one of the worst franchises for preventing injuries to pitchers. They routinely have the most pitchers on the IL it seems to me. I’m guessing if you looked it up over the past 5 years they gotta be top 5 at worst.
Well, we do live in a throw-away society. Everything now has something electronic in it—good luck trying to fix any of that stuff. The Rays are simply throwing away the pitchers.
In all seriousness, I don’t think it’s any team’s intent to injure its players. Or abuse them until they are injured.
Baseball players today, to me, seem more fragile than ever before. Lots and lots of injuries.
It could be mechanics or throwing certain pitches that puts undo stress on some pitchers.
I agree. I think pitchers are trying to throw harder than ever before, and they put extra stress on their ligaments, muscles, and joints as a result.
To your point, the pitches you throw all stress body parts differently. If you throw one pitch more than others you may injure different parts.
I’d like to know how many first pitch home runs the Rays have given up this year. You’d think it would be an easy fix. Apparently not. Beeks gives another one up today and Poche literally scares me when he comes in.